NFL Nation: Jimmy Clausen

Around the NFC South

March, 14, 2012
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Let’s tie up some loose odds and ends from around the NFC South.

Interesting move by the Panthers in bringing back reserve quarterback Derek Anderson. The team had given some indications Jimmy Clausen could move from No. 3 to become Cam Newton’s backup this year. But the return of Anderson might prevent that. It’s also worth watching what happens with Clausen, who is scheduled to receive a roster bonus of close to $1 million later this month.

The Saint reportedly have tight end Joel Dressen in for a visit.

Forget about the possibility of former Dallas tight end Martellus Bennett joining his brother, defensive end Michael, in Tampa Bay. Martellus Bennett has signed with the New York Giants.

Former Carolina offensive lineman Mackenzy Bernadeau has agreed to terms with the Dallas Cowboys. I don’t think the Panthers had much interest in bringing him back.

It’s still nothing but silence out of the Falcons, but former Atlanta return man/receiver Eric Weems has signed with the Chicago Bears.
It’s likely we’ll know if Jimmy Clausen has any future with the Carolina Panthers before the end of March.

Clausen
For now, let’s just say the Panthers are facing a $923,000 question on a reserve quarterback that was not active for a single game last season. That amount is the bonus Clausen is scheduled to receive if he remains on the roster 14 days after the league year starts on March 13.

With the Panthers already needing to shed $9.6 million in cap space before the start of the league year, the decision on Clausen could come before the start of the league year. If the Panthers release Clausen, they’ll clear a little over $1 million in cap space.

It’s obvious Cam Newton is Carolina’s franchise quarterback for the long term. The Panthers do need a backup for Newton and Derek Anderson, who held the No. 2 spot last season and can become an unrestricted free agent.

It’s possible the Panthers could let Anderson walk and keep Clausen as the backup. But it’s obvious Clausen didn’t make a great impression on the coaching staff last season as he fell behind Anderson on the depth chart.

The Panthers drafted Clausen in the second round in 2010 and he was ineffective as a part-time starter in the tumultuous final season of John Fox’s tenure. There are some high-ranking team officials that like Clausen, but those same people may feel a bit sorry about the way his career began and then stalled in Carolina. That, along with the roster bonus, might be a reason the Panthers would be willing to let Clausen go and hope that he can get a fresh start somewhere else.

Worst team in the NFC South?

December, 1, 2011
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Josh FreemanJim Brown/US PresswireTampa Bay quarterback Josh Freeman and the Buccaneers have lost five consecutive games.

The standings say the Carolina Panthers are the worst team in the NFC South. I say, they’re not even close.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have worked really hard to clinch that honor, at least for the moment.

Yeah, I know Carolina is 3-8 and Tampa Bay is 4-7. But this isn’t about finite numbers -- at least not until Sunday when the two teams play and the Panthers have a chance to draw mathematically even with the Bucs.

The Panthers have an offense and they have lots of hope for the future. The Bucs are on a losing streak that looks like it could reach infinity.

When they meet Sunday at Raymond James Stadium it won’t hold the star power of a Saints/Falcons game, but it could tell the story of two NFC South teams headed in very different directions. The Bucs also play the Panthers in Charlotte on Christmas Eve. If the Bucs haven’t stopped their free fall by then, things will get really ugly in Tampa Bay.

The Bucs are on a five-game losing streak and not even quarterback Josh Freeman can put his thumb on the reasons why. Hey, let's take it one step further since Freeman and the Bucs have opened that door -- "Fire those cannons,'' Josh!''

It wasn’t supposed to work out this way at all. This was supposed to be the season in which the Bucs joined the Saints and Falcons. But somewhere on the ride to the penthouse, it looks like coach Raheem Morris and his team have taken a very wrong turn.

Even before the losing streak started, the Bucs weren’t playing like they were supposed to. Tampa Bay was supposed to take a huge step forward after going 10-6 last season with the league’s youngest roster.

The Bucs didn’t make a lot of offseason changes and seemed to be going on the logical assumption that everyone would be a year better. There’s nothing wrong with a youth movement (and even an occasional Albert Haynesworth) as long as coaches and players keep it moving in a positive direction, even if the schedule is difficult. But it’s hard to find any positives with the Bucs right now, and punter Michael Koenen doesn't count.

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Tampa Bay's Raheem Morris
Jim Brown/US PRESSWIREIt's hard to imagine the Bucs letting Raheem Morris coach the final year of his contract, unless his team suddenly finishes on an upswing.
Freeman, who threw 25 touchdowns and just six interceptions last season, hasn’t been able to hit targets. Mike Williams, who looked like a No. 1 receiver as a rookie, has turned into the second coming of Michael Clayton. LeGarrette Blount, who ran for 1,000 yards in half a season, might need a season and a half to hit that mark again, which might coincide with the moment he finally learns to pass block.

People talked about Freeman, Williams and Blount as "The Triplets" last year. I still think Freeman has a world of potential, but it’s looking like he might end up being the only child. On defense, the Bucs have invested a lot of draft picks and money invested in their defensive line.

But this defense still appears to have the same track marks on its back as it did in the final days of the Jon Gruden era. Speaking of Gruden, the Bucs fired him after he lost his final four games to finish 9-7 in 2008.

If Morris ends up losing 10 games in a row (or anything close to that), do you seriously think he’s going to get a contract extension? He’s sort of up for one. When the Bucs hired Morris in 2009, they gave him a two-year deal with an option for two more. The Bucs picked up that option. But it’s hard to imagine the Bucs letting Morris coach the final year, unless his team suddenly finishes on an upswing.

In case you haven’t heard, the Bucs have a little problem selling tickets. Heading into 2012 with a marketing slogan of “Come see our lame-duck head coach and a bunch of guys who really underachieved last year’’ probably won’t cause a surge at the box office.

Besides, you don’t head into a season with a lame-duck coach. Just ask the Panthers. They did it in 2010 with John Fox and the only thing they got out of that was Ron Rivera as the head coach and the No. 1 overall pick in the draft.

The Panthers used that pick in April to select Cam Newton. As it turned out, those pre-draft scouting reports that were filled with lots of doubt now translate into "Big, strong guy, who can throw, run and even make Steve Smith smile."

Yeah, three wins don’t make a season. But four, five or six victories and visions of a healthy Jon Beason (maybe even a healthy Thomas Davis) sure would fire up a fan base that hasn’t seen many good things since Jan. 10, 2009. That was the night Jake Delhomme celebrated what reportedly was his 34th birthday (the reality was his right arm turned 68 that day) with five interceptions (and a fumble) in an embarrassing home playoff loss to Arizona.

The Panthers followed that up with a contract extension for Delhomme, whose right arm went on to turn 78 before his 35th birthday. That set the stage for a 2010 season in which Fox pointed fingers at ownership and the front office, hazed Jimmy Clausen (“Brian St. Pierre is better than you’’ and “I can make Timmy Tebow into a better quarterback than you, Mr. Notre Dame pedigree’’) and completely forgot to coach is team.

The Panthers went 2-14.

They hired Rivera. They drafted Newton, who came out of the gate putting up 400-yard games. With Beason and Davis hurt, the Panthers have been horrible on defense.

Even while losing, the Panthers have made their fans feel like they’re winning. Newton and the offense are flat-out entertaining and that’s brought tons of hope for the future. Rivera’s a defensive guru and a draft and a few free agents could fix that side of the ball.

Funny, but the Panthers appear to be headed for what the Bucs once were supposed to be and the Bucs seem to be headed for where the Panthers just were.

They’ll intersect Sunday and the result will tell us as much about the bottom of the NFC South as a game between the Falcons and Saints does at the top.

If both teams are 4-8 by the end of Sunday afternoon, the Panthers will have clearly soared past by the Bucs. Or, depending on how you look at it, the Bucs will have fallen lower than the Panthers.

Inactives for Panthers and Redskins

October, 23, 2011
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CHARLOTTE -- The Panthers and Redskins just announced their inactives for Sunday’s game.

For Carolina, quarterback Jimmy Clausen, safety Jordan Pugh, running back Mike Goodson, tight end Richie Brockel, linebacker Omar Gaither, tackle Lee Ziemba and defensive tackle Frank Kearse are inactive.

For Washington, receiver Donte Stallworth, safety Oshiomogo Atogwe, cornerback Byron Westbrook, tight end Chris Cooley, linebacker Markus White, tackle Trent Williams and defensive lineman Darrion Scott.

NFC South Stock Watch

September, 13, 2011
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» NFC Stock Watch: East | West | North | South » AFC: East | West | North | South

FALLING

1. The “hot’’ coordinators in the NFC South. New Orleans Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey and Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Greg Olson all got outcoached badly in their openers. These are guys whose names come up in conversations when you talk about potential head coaches. If they keep coaching this way, they’ll stay as assistants.

2. Tampa Bay’s pass rush. The Bucs have known for a couple years they needed to get better on the defensive line. That’s why they drafted tackles Gerald McCoy and Brian Price in the first two rounds in 2010 and ends Adrian Clayborn and Da'Quan Bowers this year. It didn’t make a bit of difference Sunday. The Bucs didn’t record a sack and allowed Matthew Stafford to throw for 300 yards and three touchdowns.

3. New Orleans coach Sean Payton. There was a time when there was no room to question Payton’s play calling. But fans started doing it after his decision to run rookie Mark Ingram and take the ball out of Drew Brees' hands on the final play of Thursday night’s loss to Green Bay. New Orleans fans are passionate and they’ve been spoiled by success the past couple of seasons. If the Saints get off to a slow start, they’ll start questioning Payton’s decision to move his family to Dallas.

RISING

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Cam Newton
Mark J. Rebilas/US PresswireIt's safe to say that no one, except maybe the Newton family, expected Cam Newton to throw for over 400 yards in his NFL debut.
1. Carolina Panthers general manager Marty Hurney. Who’s making a huge mistake now? Not Hurney. Although fans and some members of the media said Hurney was asking for catastrophic results if he drafted Cam Newton with the No. 1 overall pick, that suddenly is looking like a very smart move. Yeah, Hurney also drafted Jimmy Clausen and Armanti Edwards. But if Newton’s record-setting debut is any indication of the future, he’s going to make things a lot brighter for Hurney and the entire organization.

2. The possibility of a Week 4 local television blackout in Tampa Bay. That’s the "Monday Night Football" game against the Indianapolis Colts. Once upon a time, it was thought the presence of Peyton Manning would guarantee a sellout at Raymond James Stadium. Now, Manning’s hurt. Speaking of hurting, the Bucs’ performance in the opener isn’t going to help sell many tickets.

3. Atlanta owner Arthur Blank. Could he have known about or prevented Michael Vick's downfall in Atlanta? It’s possible. But that’s the past and Vick and Blank made their peace long ago. That will make things a lot smoother Sunday night when Vick and the Philadelphia Eagles come to Atlanta. Blank kept in touch with Vick while he was in prison and told commissioner Roger Goodell he believed the quarterback deserved another shot in the NFL. The game between the Eagles and Falcons might bring back memories, but it’s not a grudge match.

Jimmy Clausen's future?

September, 2, 2011
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Jimmy Clausen kept his jersey (No. 2), but may have played his way out of the second spot on Carolina’s depth chart.

Rookie Cam Newton, who wore No. 2 in college and switched to No. 1, will be the opening day starter when the Panthers open the season at Arizona on Sept. 11. Although Clausen started the first preseason game, he really never had much of a shot at the full-time job. It would have taken a horrible preseason by Newton and a great one by Clausen for the second-year pro to win the starting job.

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Jimmy Clausen
AP Photo/Rick HavnerJimmy Clausen had a rough preseason, going 24-of-46 with two INTs and getting sacked seven times.
Neither of those things happened and Clausen was the third man in the rotation in Thursday night’s preseason finale. Veteran Derek Anderson followed Newton and played well.

We don’t know anything for sure yet on who Carolina’s backup is, but it very likely could be Anderson. The Panthers are willing to take their lumps with Newton early because he’s their future. Only an injury would get him out of the lineup and it’s very possible the Panthers would turn to Anderson first in that situation.

Anderson has history with offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski. They were together in Cleveland and Anderson knows the system better than any of Carolina’s quarterbacks.

So where does that leave Clausen? Well, let’s just say the options aren’t great.

The Panthers could go with Clausen as the No. 3 quarterback and that means there’s a chance he never gets on the field this year.

They could try to trade him and there are teams out there with worse quarterbacks at No. 3, maybe even at No. 2. But how much value does Clausen have right now? Not a lot. At best, he’d bring a very late draft pick. I don’t think the Panthers are ready to part with a guy who was a second-round pick last year for a seventh-round pick in 2012. Besides, Carolina needs a third quarterback and there’s no one else in the picture.

The best thing -- maybe the only thing -- the Panthers can do right now is keep Clausen. Let him start off the season as the No. 3 quarterback. Maybe he starts showing more in practice and maybe injuries happen in front of him. In that scenario, Clausen might get a chance at playing time.

If he does, that’s when he could really drive up his trade value for next year. If he doesn’t, the Panthers can always try to showcase him in next year’s preseason.

Cam Newton one step from starting

August, 27, 2011
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We’ve already told you Carolina coach Ron Rivera stopped a little bit short of naming Cam Newton as his opening-day quarterback. Now, let's tell you what that means.

Take Rivera’s announcement that Newton will start next week’s final preseason game as another sign that the Panthers are ready to hand things off to the No. 1 overall draft pick.

“The big thing is to continue to see how he handles everything,’’ Rivera said. “We have to really study him and watch him. We have to make sure he's progressing in the right direction. This is a very sincere thing for us. We don't want to just say, 'Hey, you're the guy,' and walk away from it. At the same time, we want him to understand that he is working towards being our guy.’’

This really shouldn’t be much of a surprise because it’s nothing new. The Panthers have planned all along to try to have Newton ready to start the opener. He hasn’t been great in the preseason, but he hasn’t had any disastrous mistakes.

Besides, Jimmy Clausen hasn’t played any better and sat out Saturday’s practice with injuries to his knee and thigh. Derek Anderson, who never has been considered a candidate to start, worked with the second team Saturday.

Basically, it all comes down to this: As long as Newton doesn’t get hurt between now and the start of the regular season, he’ll be under center (and in the shotgun formation at times) on Sept. 11 when he Panthers open at Arizona.

Like Rivera said, the Panthers want Newton to continue working toward being their guy. Everything's not going to click on overnight. This may be a season-long process, but the Panthers are ready to take the good with the bad.

Did Cam Newton do enough?

August, 25, 2011
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Did Cam Newton do enough to win the starting quarterback job in Thursday night’s exhibition at Cincinnati?

Under normal circumstances, probably not. But the Carolina Panthers aren’t in normal circumstances. The deck has been stacked in Newton's favor all along and it's probably best not to shuffle now. The Panthers used the first overall draft pick on Newton, have been preparing the last two weeks as if he’ll be the starter and don’t really have another attractive option.

Besides, the bar for judging Newton was pretty low. The Panthers pretty much said before the game that all Newton had to do was go into Cincinnati and not have any major disasters. He didn’t, unless you count a horrible performance by the entire defense and the offensive line against Newton.

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Carolina's Cam Newton
Frank Victores/US PRESSWIRECam Newton completed just 6 of 19 passes for 75 yards but did run four times for 49 yards and a touchdown.
He was by no means great or anything close to it. In fact, Newton’s accuracy is a big concern after he completed just 6 of 19 passes for 75 yards while playing deep into the third quarter. But Cincinnati’s defensive pressure might have had a lot to do with that because Newton was under attack all night.

He did throw a few nice passes to tight ends Greg Olsen and Jeremy Shockey and a potential touchdown throw to Steve Smith was on target, but the receiver couldn’t quite make the catch in bounds. He also had his third straight game without an interception. Perhaps the best thing Newton did all night was lead the Panthers on a touchdown drive on the same series in which he had the near miss with Smith.

Faced with a third-and-11 from Cincinnati’s 16-yard line, Newton dropped back, saw heavy pressure coming fast and tucked the ball and ran for a touchdown. It was the first touchdown the Panthers have produced with Newton at quarterback this preseason. That alone might prompt Ron Rivera to decide on Newton as his starter.

Newton’s running ability is one of his strengths and that may be another reason to start him over Jimmy Clausen. If Carolina’s offensive line is going to play this way in the regular season, the Panthers will need a quarterback who can run. Newton ran four times for 49 yards with a 26-yard run in addition to his touchdown.

Newton hasn’t "wowed" anybody in his three preseason games, but he has had some stunning moments in practice. Clausen hasn’t wowed anybody since his days at Notre Dame, maybe even since his high school days.

Newton has a ton of upside. If he can just get a little help from his teammates, he might have a chance. Besides, the Panthers really have no other choice.

Three things: Panthers-Bengals

August, 25, 2011
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Three things to watch for in Carolina’s preseason game against the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. ET:

1. Cam Newton versus Cam Newton. Really, there is a way Newton still could lose out on being the opening-day starter at quarterback. He’d have to go into Cincinnati and throw four or five interceptions, mess up a few handoffs and look like he doesn’t know the offense. Anything less than a truly horrible performance and Newton will get the nod. The Panthers know Newton is their future and their future begins Sept. 11 in Arizona.

2. Newton’s chemistry with Steve Smith. It looks as if Smith will play this week after missing the first two exhibitions with a hand injury. Newton and Jimmy Clausen struggled without him as the other Carolina receivers failed to get consistent separation from defensive backs. We know Newton and Smith worked out together some in the offseason and before the hand injury. Still, it would be nice to see Newton gets a chance to throw a few passes Smith’s way in game conditions.

3. Rookie defensive tackles Sione Fua and Terrell McClain. The Panthers have had trouble stopping the run the last couple seasons and Reggie Bush was able to run between the tackles in the last preseason game. The Panthers had hoped that signing veteran free-agent Ron Edwards would solve all this, but he suffered an injury that’s expected to keep him out all season. Unless the Panthers find gold on the waiver wire, they might just turn the starting spots over to McClain and Fua. Both were picked in the third round and the Panthers might as well let them grow up together.
There were a couple of significant developments on the injury front out of Carolina’s practice Wednesday morning.

Coach Ron Rivera said linebacker Jon Beason had a minor procedure performed on his Achilles tendon on Tuesday. Rivera said the team still hopes Beason, who never has missed a regular-season game, will be ready for the regular-season opener. But this sounds like a close time frame. On the bright side, the Panthers have depth at linebacker. Dan Connor has started before and can step right into the middle with James Anderson and Thomas Davis on the outside.

Rivera also said quarterback Jimmy Clausen is questionable because of soreness in his throwing (right) elbow. The Panthers already were planning to start rookie Cam Newton and play him for about three quarters in Thursday’s preseason game at Cincinnati. Clausen already appeared to be trailing Newton in the competition to be the opening-day starter.

Clausen’s only shot at jumping past Newton appears to be if the rookie has a bad outing against the Bengals and Clausen comes in and plays well. But, if Clausen’s elbow isn’t ready, that’s not going to happen.

Top NFC South position battles

August, 22, 2011
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All of the NFC South teams have played two preseason games, but there still are competitions going on for key jobs with each team. Let’s take a look at the top undecided competitions.

New Orleans’ weakside linebacker. Veteran Scott Shanle is trying to hold off Jonathan Casillas. The Saints know they can always turn back to Shanle and get steady play. But they’re giving Casillas every shot to win the job because he’s younger, faster and that means he has the potential to bring big plays.

Carolina’s quarterback. It’s obvious the Panthers want to go with rookie Cam Newton. He hasn’t done anything to pull away from Jimmy Clausen in the first two preseason games. All Newton has to do is play respectably and not make any huge mistakes in the third preseason game with Cincinnati and the job will be his.

Tampa Bay’s middle linebacker. Sort of like Carolina and Newton, the Bucs would like to just hand this job to rookie Mason Foster. He has all sorts of potential, but he hasn’t pulled away from the competition just yet. Tyrone McKenzie remains as a fallback option, but the Bucs will only go that way if Foster really struggles in the third preseason game.

Atlanta’s nickelback. This one’s really close as both Dominique Franks and Christopher Owens have done some good things. Franks might have a slight edge right now, but either player can win this job with a strong showing in the third preseason game.

Rivera pauses on naming QB

August, 21, 2011
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Carolina coach Ron Rivera did not name his starting quarterback for the regular season Sunday. You don’t even have to read between the lines to figure this one out.

Rivera is pausing a bit before deciding if he wants to take a huge leap of faith and go with rookie Cam Newton over second-year pro Jimmy Clausen. Although Rivera initially said he’d name a starter before the third preseason game, you can’t blame him for waiting a bit.

Newton and Clausen haven’t stepped forward in the first two preseason contests. There’s nothing wrong with waiting to see how Newton and Clausen fare in this week’s preseason game at Cincinnati.

Newton is expected to get his second straight preseason start against the Bengals. Clausen started the preseason opener.

I still think the Panthers would like to have Newton as their starter when they open Sept. 11 at Arizona. But they’re wise to wait and hope they see something out of the rookie this week. The plan is to play Newton with the starters for about three quarters, which is somewhat telling.

Turning back to Clausen remains a possibility, but that’s only going to happen if Newton really stumbles or Clausen comes in and lights it up.

If it’s still a draw after Cincinnati, the Panthers probably will go ahead and take the leap on Newton. The feeling is he might have rough edges, but he has much more upside than Clausen.
Since the big story was the competition for the starting quarterback job between Cam Newton and Jimmy Clausen, and we’ve already covered that, we’re going to do just a few other observations on the Carolina Panthers.

The Miami Dolphins won the game 20-10 and there weren’t many bright spots for the Panthers. Here are the observations:
  • I thought Carolina’s defense was going to be a lot better. Now, I’m not so sure. Reggie Bush, who never was able to run between the tackles when he was with New Orleans, ran right through Carolina’s defensive line. With some of that cap space the Panthers freed up by signing franchise player Ryan Kalil to a long-term contract Friday night, I think the Panthers need to go out and sign the best defensive tackle they can find. I thought they solved that problem when they signed Ron Edwards at the start of free agency. But Edwards got hurt. The Panthers need to go out and find somebody to replace him. Oh, and the rest of the defense helped Chad Henne look like Dan Marino.
  • Nice to see linebacker Thomas Davis playing for the first time in 21 months. He had two major knee injuries and missed some camp time with a foot injury. I didn’t notice him a lot, but I did see him doing a nice job in coverage on two different plays.
  • I was watching the broadcast from a Miami station. One of the announcers was former Miami quarterback Bob Griese. He obviously has strong ties to the Shula family because he played for legendary coach Don Shula. His son Mike is now Carolina’s quarterbacks coach. Griese said he met with Mike Shula before the game and said he’s been impressed by Newton’s progress. Griese also pointed out that Newton never had to call a play or go into a huddle at Auburn. In college, the plays were signaled in from the sidelines and Newton just lined up in the shotgun and the center snapped the ball on a silent count. Shula told Griese Newton’s done a good job adjusting to all his new duties.

Does Cam Newton have the edge?

August, 19, 2011
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There was no single moment that makes the decision obvious. There wasn’t a spectacular play or a horrible play.

As Cam Newton and Jimmy Clausen held what was supposed to be the final audition in their battle for the right to be the starting quarterback of the Carolina Panthers, there were just a lot of ordinary plays.

The Miami Dolphins dominated Friday's game and won 20-10. With Carolina’s defense helping Reggie Bush and Chad Henne look like stars, Newton and Clausen didn’t get any breaks when it came to field position.

Newton started and completed seven of 14 passes for 66 yards. He also ran four times for 16 yards. Perhaps the best thing you can say about Newton is that he went on the road for the first time in the NFL and didn’t make any drastic mistakes.

Neither did Clausen, who took over at the start of the second half. But Clausen was as ordinary as Newton. He completed nine of 15 passes for 69 yards.

So what does coach Ron Rivera do now? He already has said he plans to make a decision sometime in the next few days on which quarterback will start the regular-season opener at Arizona in September. He wants that quarterback to go into next week’s game preparing like it’s a regular-season game.

Nothing happened Friday night to make the decision crystal clear, and we’ll have to wait to see what Rivera decides.

But you want an answer now because that’s human nature. I’ll do my best, but this is somewhat of a guess. Based on everything I’ve been told by the Panthers since the day they drafted Newton, the hope has been that they’d be able to start him on opening day. The qualifier was that Newton needed to have a decent training camp and not make a ton of mistakes in the preseason games.

He’s qualified on both accounts, and Clausen hasn’t wowed anybody. We haven’t seen a real downside to Newton and we know there’s the possibility of a huge upside. I say the Panthers will decide to go with Newton.

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On the same night they’re deciding who will be their starting quarterback (Cam Newton or Jimmy Clausen) on opening day, the Carolina Panthers just made another huge move.

Center Ryan Kalil, who had been tagged as the team’s franchise player and signed a tender for $10.116 million, has just agreed to a long-term contract that will make him the highest-paid center in history, according to ESPN’s Chris Mortensen.

The deal is for six years and, although we don’t have full details yet, we know it averages more than the $7.75 million per year that Nick Mangold got last year when he became the highest-paid center in NFL history.

The move comes after the Panthers, who went 2-14 with one of the league’s lowest payrolls last year, went on a spending spree coming out of the lockout. Owner Jerry Richardson, one of the lead negotiators in the new labor deal, pledged that his team would be aggressive once there was labor peace.

He has followed through on that promise. The Panthers have paid out well over $100 million just in signing bonuses while re-signing some of their own players, such as defensive end Charles Johnson, linebackers Jon Beason, James Anderson and Thomas Davis and running back DeAngelo Williams. The Panthers also traded for tight end Greg Olsen and turned around and signed him to a new contract.

Throw in Kalil’s deal and the Panthers have been one of the most active teams in the league this preseason. Although Kalil’s contract may seem like a massive long-term commitment, it’s going to help the Panthers in the short term.

They had only about $2.5 million remaining in salary-cap space, but that was with Kalil counting for $10.116 million. Again, we don’t know the structure of his deal, but it’s fair to say no matter what it is, his new cap figure will be at least several million dollars less.

That will give the Panthers flexibility to make even more moves. They would like to add a starting-caliber cornerback and also could be in the market for one more experienced wide receiver. Now, they’ve got the cap space to do whatever they want.
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